From a distance, male Bufflehead ducks (Bucephala albeola) generally look like they are black and white. Last Friday, however, the lighting was coming from a good direction and revealed some of the beautiful green and purple iridescent feathers on this bird’s head. The second image shows a Bufflehead couple and shows the dramatic difference in appearance between the male and female of this species.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
There’s a pair of these on a Galveston Island pond. They’ve come close enough for me to ID them, but not close enough for my 70-300mm to get a decent photo. One day! They certainly are beautiful.
The “ear muff” pattern on on the head of the male bufflehead is pretty distinctive, so I can easily identify one. However, like most diving ducks buffleheads seem to like deep water, so I have yet to get a close-up shot of one.
So glad you posted these buffleheads, yesterday I found the best little video of these birds on Twitter and remembering your past photos I thought I must tell you about it. I think you’d love to see this Mike if you haven’t already, at: https://twitter.com/GetToKnowNature/status/1221078487248838656
Thanks for sharing the video, Liz. I had not seen it before. Some of the behavior is pretty familiar to me, but I have never seen the bobbing head activity during mating season. I am also going to have to keep an eye out for the pink leg of the male.
Great images, Mike. I’ve never seen these.
The zigzag reflection makes that first shot quite dynamic!
I had a choice of a number of different shots of the male Bufflehead and chose that one specifically because of that pattern in the water. 🙂
I’ve never managed to get close enough to buffleheads on Clopper Lake (Seneca Creek State Park) to see more than flashes of white. Interesting how the female’s protective coloration makes her blend right into the water.
The buffleheads really do stay pretty far away. I was fortunate enough to see them on a fairly small pond, which helped me to get some shots. It has often struck me how male birds stand out so much more than their female counterparts, like cardinal and wood ducks, to name a couple.